1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of analyzing a physical property of a golf ball. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of forming a model of a golf ball of which physical property is to be analyzed by a simulation such as a finite element method, a finite volume method or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A golf ball is hit with a golf club and thus flies. A resilience characteristic during hitting greatly influences a flight distance of the golf ball. A golf player is very interested in the flight distance. Therefore, a golf ball manufacturer has aimed at obtaining an improvement in a resilience performance and has made an effort toward development all the time.
In the development of the golf ball, first of all, a design is carried out and a trial product is then fabricated. The trial product is subjected to a hitting test and a flight distance is measured together with a resilience coefficient. Data thus obtained by the measurement are decided. If the obtained result is insufficient, the data are fed back to a next design. In the development of the golf ball, thus, the design, the trial production and the evaluation are repeated, which takes a great deal of labor and time.
In place of the hitting test or together with the hitting test, the physical property is measured in a room in some cases. Examples of the physical property which can be measured in the room include a resilience coefficient, a compression deformation (so-called compression), a specific frequency, an impact force and the like. The physical property can be measured more easily in the room than the hitting test. However, the measurement of the physical property in the room is the same as the hitting test in that the trial product is to be fabricated. Thus, it takes a great deal of labor and time to develop the golf ball.
Only the data on the physical property of the whole golf ball can be obtained by any of the hitting test and the measurement of the physical property in the room. It is hard to grasp a behavior presented by each portion of the golf ball during collision or compression and deformation. For this reason, trial and error are often repeated from a design to an evaluation in the development of the golf ball.
There has also been proposed a method of carrying out a simulation utilizing a finite element method, a finite volume method or the like, thereby evaluating a golf ball without performing trial production. In the simulation, an analyzing object (a golf ball) is divided into a large number of meshed elements so that a model can be obtained.
In consideration of precision in the analysis to be carried out by the simulation, it is preferable that the number of divisions in the model should be larger. However, an increase in the number of divisions causes an increase in a load applied to a computer. Consequently, a time required for the analysis is considerably prolonged. An enhancement in the precision in the analysis is contrary to a reduction in the time required for the analysis.